Lot
441

A SUPERB DIAMOND, RUBY, CARVED EMERALD AND SEED PEARL SAUTOIR

Centering upon a carved emerald elephant, standing on an oval cabochon ruby trimmed with circular-cut diamonds, suspending a faceted diamond and ruby bead tassel, terminating with briolette diamonds, joined by twin pear-shaped rose-cut diamonds and cabochon rubies to a woven seed pearl and ruby bead chain, mounted in platinum and gold, circa 1984 --19½ ins. long

Manufactured by Carvin French, Inc.

The sautoir, a long neck chain worn loosely either from the shoulders or hanging down to below the waist, was introduced during the nineteenth century. The swaying rhythms of the dance crazy Roaring Twenties precipitated a resurgence of this style of jewelry when women wore short, tunic dresses. The new look necessitated new jewelry with simple lines, minimum design and vivid colors. To accentuate the tubular dress, jewelry designers introduced long dangling necklaces influenced by the multi-strand necklaces of the Indian maharajas. The illustrated example is a contemporary version of the Art Deco sautoir with the elements taken from Indian-style jewelry. The colorations of red, green and white and the use of seed pearls, beads, briolette diamonds and carved elements are derived from Mughal jewelry. Cabochon rubies set into enclosed mountings are known as collet settings in the west but the form is also Indian, known as the 'kundan' style. The carved elephant, astride an oval cabochon ruby, completes the Indian theme: the animal is native to the country and the emerald is the stone most associated with India although the country has no significant emerald deposits.

Every detail of this sautoir has received the utmost attention and the quality of craftsmanship matches these intriguing gems of the finest pedigree.